"She looked good, right? I mean, she looked sober." Roger asked looking down at Maureen.
"Well Jimmy said she's been sober for a while now." she said looking up at him.
"Yeah, I read it. Where are we meeting them?" he asked as they left the Garden.
"Around the corner. They just need to get cleaned up." she said smiling up at him.
"I gotta stop by the bodega. I'll meet you there." he said walking down the block.
"I'll get him." Collins said looking down at her.
"No, I think I need to do this. I'll meet you guys at the bar." Maureen said looking up at him before chasing after Roger. "Roger, wait." she called out running after him.
"I just need to get cigarettes Maureen. Go to the bar, I'll meet you guys there." he said not turning around.
"You're gonna go home, aren't you? I can't believe you're gonna run away on her again." she yelled looking up as he stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.
"What am I gonna say to her Maureen? Sorry for running out on you when you needed me the most, but I couldn't handle it? I was 19 years old and I couldn't handle taking care of the woman I love when she needed me the most? I wanted to until I saw her. How am I gonna face her." he asked looking down at her.
"No Roger. You tell you still love her and see if you can get back what you had with her." she asked looking up at him.
"How do you...?" he asked before she cut him off.
"Are you kidding? I've known you my whole life. I can tell by the way you were looking at her up there. It was the way you always looked at her." she said smiling up at him.
"What am I gonna say to her Maureen? I screwed up in so many ways. How do I make that up to her?" he asked looking down at her.
"She still loves you Roger. I don't think it's gonna be that hard to make it up to her." she smiled taking his arm.
"How do you know?" he asked looking down at her confused.
"Roger, she sung the song you guys wrote together and called you someone special to her. It's obvious. And it wasn't only tonight. Jimmy said she's been doing that song a lot lately." she said as he looked down.
"How am I gonna explain what I did to my own life? I walked out on her for drinking and I go on to shoot heroin and contract HIV. Real genius, right?" he said looking down at the ground.
"Roger, come on. Let's go to the bar. We have old friends to catch up with." she smiled taking his arm.
"I missed her Maureen." he said looking down at him.
"I know Roger. She missed you too. You guys always belonged together." she smiled as they walked to the bar.
"Maureen, I don't know if we're gonna get back together again." he said looking down at her.
"There's always a chance. Trust me. Sometimes, things do work out." she smiled as she linked arms with him walking up to the bar. "Are you ready?" she asked looking down at him.
"Yeah, I think so. I don't know why I feel like a damn teenager." he said looking into the window of the bar. He noticed Ava, Jimmy and June sitting at a table in the back with Mark, Collins and Joanne.
"Come on." she smiled opening the door and dragging him in.
"Roger man. How you been? You look really good." Jimmy called out rushing to the front of the bar.
"I'm good Jimmy. How've you been?" he asked smiling over at Ava who was sitting next to June looking up at him.
"Hi Roger." she said getting up from her chair and walking over to him.
"Hi Ava. Or should I call you Avalon? I'm glad you decided to use that name as your stage name. It fits you." she smiled looking down at her shoving his hands into his pockets.
"Yeah, you always said it was a cool name. You look really good Roger." she smiled looking up at him.
"So do you. Really." he smiled looking down at her.
"Hey Davis. You look like shit. Don't you believe in hair cuts?" June yelled rushing over to him breaking the tension between them.
"You're just jealous I still have all my hair. Getting a little thin up there, are you June?" he teased looking up at his head before they hugged.
"It's good to see you Roger." June laughed looking over at him.
"So do you man. It's great to see you again." he smiled looking back at him.
"Why don't we sit down? We were just talking to your friends and they've been telling us quite a few stories." Jimmy laughed looking over at Ava.
"Um, we'll be right back." Ava said taking Roger's arm and leading him outside.
"Ava, you look really good. And you were great up there." he smiled looking down at her.
"Roger, why didn't you come back?" she asked taking him off guard.
"What?" he asked looking down at her.
"Why didn't you come back? After you left that summer, you never came back." she asked putting her hands on her hips looking up at him.
"I couldn't watch you try to kill yourself again." he said looking down at her.
"I started drinking again because I couldn't take you not being able to trust me for not telling you about Will." she said turning her back on him.
"Ava, you were sober for over a year and a half and then you started drinking again. Why would you do that after you almost died?" he said looking over at her.
"I had lost you Roger. I didn't see the point in anything anymore. You wouldn't talk to me and you couldn't trust me." she said turning to him. She had tears in her eyes.
"You didn't lose me Ava. You could never lose me. I loved you and wanted to marry you. I just needed to wrap my mind around what happened between you and Will. I just needed time to think." he said looking over at her.
"You wouldn't talk to me for 2 weeks Roger." she told him as tears rolled down her face.
"I was 19 Ava. I was stupid. I loved you and I hurt you. I'm so sorry. I wish I could make it up to you." he said reaching out for her.
"How?" she asked looking up at him.
"I don't know, but I wanna try." he said looking down at her.
"Well, we have one more show tomorrow night and we have a week until we go out west. Maybe we can spend some time together before I have to go." she suggested looking down at her.
"I'd like that Ava." he smiled wrapping his arms around her. "Do you wanna go back inside?" he asked looking down at her.
"Not yet." she answered holding on to him tight.
"I, um... I still love you Ava." he said looking down at her.
"I still love you too Roger. I always have." she said looking up at him. He gazed into her bright blue eyes. The same blue eyes that had him since he was 16 years old. He leaned down to kiss her. It was better than it had been 10 years earlier. She pulled him closer and kissed him more furiously.
"I love you Ava." he whispered between breaths.
"I love you too Roger." she whispered holding him tight.
"So now what?" he asked holding her in his arms.
"How about we go back to my hotel room? We can be alone and talk there." she suggested looking up at him.
"Ava, I have to tell you something." he said loosening his hold on her.
"Roger, I know you're HIV positive. Jimmy told me. It's OK. I love you anyway." she said looking up into his green eyes.
"I'm sorry Ava. I screwed up my own life too." he said looking down at her.
"I wouldn't say screwed up. You just used bad judgment. I can relate." she smiled looking up at him.
"Thank you for understanding Ava." he said as she leaned up to kiss him.
"You always said no one understood you like I do." she smiled caressing his face.
"That's true." he smiled holding her closer again. As they smiled at one another Jimmy, June and Maureen stared out the window smiling at them. It looked like Ava and Roger were back together.